Morning Buzz, March 11, 2005

NHL, NHLPA TODAY RESUMING NEGOTIATIONS WITH BETTMAN, GOODENOW

NHL Exec VP & CLO Bill Daly

The NHL and the NHLPA will resume CBA negotiations today at an undisclosed location with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Exec Dir Bob Goodenow in attendance, though the TORONTO STAR reports there will be “no proposals from either side.” NHL Exec VP & CLO Bill Daly: “We really have no expectations at this point. This meeting is about seeing where we are, and what the parties’ thoughts are about where we go from here.” NHLPA Senior Dir of Business Affairs Ted Saskin: “Everybody approaches a restart of discussions with the perspective that we are back at square one” (TORONTO STAR, 3/11).

NFL TO PLAY REGULAR-SEASON GAME OUTSIDE OF U.S. FOR FIRST TIME

ESPN DEPORTES last night reported, “The NFL has confirmed that they will play a regular season game outside of the U.S. for the first time ever.  Mexico City is a strong candidate” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN DEPORTES, 3/10).

LITTLE PROGRESS ON MSG, FSNY CARRIAGE FROM CABLEVISION, TWC

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes Cablevision and Time Warner Cable met yesterday in an effort to return MSG and FSNY to TWC’s N.Y.-area systems, but the two sides differed “on the progress of the negotiations.” Cablevision in a statement said that TWC “‘appears to be acting in bad faith’ by presenting what it termed ‘an even lower offer’” for the two networks. A TWC spokesperson said the company “requested a followup meeting. We also asked Cablevision to return both networks to the [TWC] lineup while we continue negotiations.” Cablevision again called for binding arbitration (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 3/11).

ATTORNEY SUGGESTS PLAYERS MIGHT IGNORE COMMITTEE’S SUBPOENAS

USA TODAY reports Stanley Brand, the attorney representing MLB and the MLBPA, yesterday indicated that the MLBers subpoenaed by the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform “might ignore subpoenas and skip [next] Thursday’s hearing on steroids, unless” MLB and the committee “agree on the scope of information to be covered.” In a letter to Brand, Committee Chair Tom Davis (R-VA) and ranking minority member Henry Waxman (D-CA) said ignoring the subpoenas would be “unwise and irresponsible” (USA TODAY, 3/11).

CANADIAN HOME-IMPROVEMENT STORE RONA TO INK CFL PARTNERSHIP

The CP reported that Canada-based hardware and home-improvement retailer Rona Inc. today is expected to announce a multimillion-dollar marketing partnership with the CFL. Rona was a league sponsor last season and had team marketing deals with the Argonauts, Renegades, Alouettes, Roughriders and Eskimos. The first ever Rona Cup, awarded to the winner of the last regular-season game each year between the Alouettes and Renegades, was presented last season (CP, 3/10).

MORNING BRIEFS

Due to MLB’s desire to have the proposed Nationals ballpark completed before the ’08 season, architects who have bid on the project “speculate that [HOK Sport] has an inherent advantage among the three finalists.”  HOK Sport has built ten of the last 14 MLB ballparks (WASHINGTON POST, 3/11).

Nationals President Tony Tavares yesterday confirmed that the team is asking for MLB’s permission to sign GM Jim Bowden, “who is working under a verbal agreement to remain in his position through April, for the entire 2005 season” (WASHINGTON POST, 3/11).

MLS Commissioner Don Garber today will address the media about Toronto’s future bid for an MLS team and the city’s stadium situation (TORONTO SUN, 3/11).

The Pac-10 today is expected to approve the use of instant replay for the ‘05 football season.  The conference would join the ACC and SEC in experimenting with instant replay (L.A. TIMES, 3/11).

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, on the effect of yesterday’s trade union strikes during the IOC Evaluation Commission’s visit to the city, “Nothing disrupted the work we did together [Thursday].  Nothing” (N.Y. TIMES, 3/11).

FSN Northwest yesterday announced that Matt Morrison will host FSN Live, a role in which he will handle pregame and postgame duties for 107 Mariners broadcasts.  Morrison has spent the past four years as a sports anchor for CNN Sports (FSN).

THE BACK PAGES

The Morning Buzz offers today’s back page sports covers from some of the nation’s major metropolitan tabloids:

N.Y. Post	N.Y. Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News	Newsday

IN OTHER NEWS….

The N.Y. TIMES reports Cablevision Chair Charles Dolan has agreed to invest up to $10M in cash and stock in the company’s high-definition satellite TV project, Voom. The deal “allows him to keep the service going while he continues negotiating a deal to acquire it” (N.Y. TIMES, 3/11).

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that Spike TV “has terminated negotiations with [WWE] over primetime powerhouse ‘WWE Raw’ as well as several other WWE-branded series.”  WWE has “been known to be exploring other options since the fall, including a return to its former home, USA Network” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 3/11).

EchoStar shareholders yesterday slammed the stock, “sending shares down $1.87, or 6%, to $28.72 after a report revealed the company is the subject of an internal and SEC investigation.  Investigators are looking to see whether the company acted improperly in the way it books the deals it makes with suppliers” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/10).

FINAL JEOPARDY!

Last night's “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Ancient Writers “

“Born in 43 B.C., his most famous work begins, ‘My intention is to tell of bodies changed to different forms.’”

LAUGH TRACK

THE MONOLOGUES:

NBC’s Jay Leno: “President Clinton is doing fine.  Today, his condition was upgraded from stable to horny.  As you know, former President Clinton went back into the hospital today, so surgeons can clean up from his last operation and remove fluid buildup.  Isn’t that what got him impeached the last time? ... In an interview in GQ magazine, Russell Crowe said Al Qaeda had plans to kidnap him four years ago, but luckily our American diplomats convinced Al Qaeda to leave Russell Crowe alone and just take Jean-Claude Van Damme instead. ... Delta Airlines announced today [that] to cut costs, they are doing away with pillows.  Great, now there’s no way to shut up the crying baby.”  With Leno having a gag order on him after being subpoenaed in the Michael Jackson trial, Drew Carey came on-stage to perform jokes about the Jackson trial (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 3/10).

LAST NIGHT’S TV MONITOR

FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER

“Who was Ovid?”

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